Renderings of first UNLV School of Medicine building released

A corporation overseeing a donor-funded project to create UNLV School of Medicine’s permanent campus released artist renderings Wednesday of the school’s first building.

The renderings were created by TSK Architects. The medical education building will be constructed on a 9-acre parcel at 625 Shadow Lane, which the university bought from Clark County in 2017.

“When you look at what other medical schools have, this is a great first step,” UNLV School of Medicine Dean Marc Kahn said Wednesday, noting the building will “change the complexion” of the Las Vegas Medical District.

The new campus will allow the School of Medicine to expand its enrollment in the future, helping to address a physician shortage, Kahn said. “There’s a great need for physicians and health care providers in Nevada, and certainly in Southern Nevada. We want to do all we can to help that.”

An artist rendering for a previous version of a medical school building was released in 2018, but project plans have changed several times since then.

Maureen Schafer, CEO of Nevada Health and Bioscience Asset Corp. — the corporation overseeing the project — said Wednesday it is preparing to submit the first application with plans for the building to the city of Las Vegas in a few weeks.

Initially, the new UNLV School of Medicine campus will have just one education building, but there’s space to potentially add more buildings as needed in the future, Schafer said.

Project officials are looking to break ground by February 2021 and to have a certificate of occupancy by February 2025.

A cost estimate isn’t yet available, but Schafer said the corporation is committed to raising up to $150 million for the project.

In November, Gov. Steve Sisolak announced a plan for a permanent campus funded by about $150 million in donations, superseding a plan approved by the Nevada System of Higher Education regents in July to allow the university to pay for the project using $125 million in bonds.

UNLV School of Medicine is currently housed at the Shadow Lane Biotech Research Center and leases a building on Charleston Boulevard for its administrative offices.

Its first class began its studies in July 2017. Now, 180 medical students and nearly 335 residents and fellows are enrolled.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.